#16: How to Ace a Job Interview (Even If Your References All Live in the Amazon)

As a follow-up to Monday’s post on writing a resume with your missions experience, we figured we’d also tackle the matter of the job interview.

Nobody likes interviewing for a job.  It’s nerve-wracking, and too often it feels like you have to brag or sell yourself like a product.  On top of that, many missionaries who have been on the field for several years feel like they’ve been out of the game for too long, and don’t know what recruiters or interviewers may expect.  If this describes you, please know that you’re not alone.

Before we get into our list, I want to reassure you of two things.  First, that if you’ve got to this stage, it means that you’ve already beat out a lot of other people.  Recruiters usually get dozens or even hundreds of applications for open jobs, and will usually only interview about a dozen candidates.  If they’ve agreed to interview you, you already have a real shot at being offered the job.

Second, I want you to know that you are qualified.  If you’ve done your research into the job and any part of it looks like something you’ve done in the past, then you can do it now.  The fact that you haven’t done exactly what they’re describing doesn’t disqualify you from the position.  You have honed your skills on the field in myriad ways, and this interview is your opportunity to show how your past experience equips you to do this job with gusto.

Again, thanks to my job-hunting mentor, Emily Jones, for teaching me all of this a while back.  OK folks, here we go:  Life After Missions’ list of ways to ace an interview.

#15: How to Write an Awesome Resume (After You’ve Returned From Trying to Save the World)

If you want to know the quickest, most effective way to drain every ounce of self-worth you have, all you have to do is spend an hour or two looking at an online job board.

Really, when job hunting, it’s hard not to feel like every HR department in every company in the world has lost touch with reality and now expects nothing less than perfection.  A job that used to require a four-year degree now requires six, and universities aren’t cheap.  On top of that, most of them want their ideal candidate to have about 60 years of experience in a specific field.  Spend too long looking at those things, and… yep, there goes all of your confidence.

I’ve made no secret on this blog that I’ve had some ups and downs when it comes to work post-missions.  But I want to use that experience to help you.  In my search for meaningful employment that actually pays the bills, I’ve picked up on some effective principles for making contact with employers.  These principles can be applied to whatever position or field you’re interested in going into, and they can be very effective in making you look like a competent person to a hiring manager.

And hey, there’s some bonus content at the bottom of this post, so if you’re in that boat, I encourage you to read through and check it out.

#9: How to Deal With a Crappy Job

Before last Friday, I had never been laid off before.  Guess I can’t say that anymore.

I don’t say that to generate sympathy, but to bring up a topic that’s on the minds of a lot of repatriating missionaries:  the fact that our day jobs so often pale in comparison to what we’ve already done.

When we were overseas, most of us were driven by passion.  We had a passion for what we were doing and for the lost.  Many of us were not paid to work, and those of us who were probably weren’t paid much.  While there were a lot of mundane tasks to be done, it wasn’t difficult to attach importance to the boring stuff.  Even if you spent most of the time building Excel spreadsheets, on some level you knew that it had an effect on Kingdom-building endeavors.  And if you got bored, it usually wasn’t hard to find something more exciting to attach yourself to (“Hey, anybody want to go to India next month?”).

Now we’ve landed, and the jobs we find ourselves in may be more about paying the bills than saving the lost.  Hardly the labor of love that we’ve grown accustomed to.  And don’t even get me started on coworkers.